Rammer for ammunition.



' J. BECKER.

RAMMER vFOR AMMUNITION.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2a, 1908.

Patented Aug". 24, 1909.

UNITED STATES--?ATENT cannon.

JULIUS BECKER; or EssEN-or'f-THE-RUHR, calamity} AssIeNoR' 'ro FRIED. KRUPP Aims GESEIILSCHAFT, OF ESSEN-ON THE-RUHR', GERMANY.

RAMMER FOR AMMUNITION.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUS BECKER, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and a resident of Essen on the Ruhr, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hammers for Ammunition, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to rammers for ammunition.

Such rammers are generally provided with a member for guiding the rammer in the gun-barrel and in the known rammers this member of bent or curved strips made from a suitable material, such as wood. These guide-members have considerable weight and therefore cause the center of gravity of the rammer to become located a considerable distance from the middle of the rammer-shaft. This fact makes it rather difficult to handle a manual rammer having such a guidemember.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rammer which does not possess the above-mentioned drawback.

In accordance with this invention the desired object is attained by forming the guidemember of bent or curved strips made from a springy, hard material, such as steel.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is, by way of example, shown applied to a manual rammer.

Figure 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the improved rammer; Fig. 2 is a section, on an enlarged scale, on line 22, Fig. 1; 'Fig. 3 is a front view of the rammer, shown in Fig. 1; Fig. a shows a part of a second embodiment in a view corresponding to that shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 shows a detail in section.

Reference will first be had to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 8. By means of rivets C a metallic sleeve A, which is integral with the rammer-head a is secured on one end of the rammer-shaft B which is made from wood. The end of the sleeve A which is remote from the rammer-head a is provided with a flange a Strips D which preferably 'are made from steel (that is, from springy, hard material) are suspended between the flange a and the part of the rammer-head a which projects beyond the surface of the sleeve A. Nuts and bolts E serve to secure the ends of the strips to the flange and the rammer-head. In other" respects the ar- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 23, 1908.

Serial N0. 445,048.-

rangement of the strips D is selected in such a manner that the strips to a certain extent form a part of the surface of a solid of revolution which has its axis coinciding with the axis of the rammer-shaft.

The guide-member formed by the strips D has small weight and furthermore provides for a rapid ramming of the ammunition as the guide-member, by reason of its shape which approaches that of a flattened sphere, can easily slide past the projections of the loading opening and the loading chamberf If necessary, for instance in case of break age, any one of the strips D can be replaced by a new strip.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the strips D forming the guide-member of the rammer are secured to the rammer-head a only. In this instancethe guide-member is formed like a mushroom. In order to pre vent the edges of the strips which form the guidemember, inflicting damage to the gunbarrel, the parts of the strips, which come in contact with the walls of the gun-barrel during the ramming operation, may be of the cross-section shown in Fig. 5.

It is apparent that the invention is equally applicable to the so-called mechanical ra1n mers, that is the rammers which are operated by means of a crank or a special motor.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a rammer shaft. of an integral rammer head fitting over and inc-losing the end of said shaft, said head being provided with strips of springy material secured to said head to form a guide member therefor.

2. A rammer head comprising an integral cylindrical body closed at one end and provided at each end with an annular flange; and a plurality of strips of spring metal having their ends attached respectively to said flanges to form a guide member for said rammer.

The foregoing specification signed at Dusseldorf, Germany, this 24th day of June, 1908.

JULIUS BECKER.

In presence of PETER LIEBER, WILHELM FLAsoHE.

Patented Aug. 24, 1909. 

